Set a new home page in Chrome in three steps

Open Chrome and click the three vertical dots in the top right corner. Select Settings from the menu. On the left side, click On startup. Choose Open a specific page or set of pages, then click Add a new page and enter the web address you want to see when Chrome opens. That address is now your home page.

If you want a home page button on your toolbar instead — so you can click it to return home without restarting Chrome — go back to Settings, click Appearance on the left, and toggle Show home button to on. Then click the pencil icon next to Change your home page and enter your chosen address.

Chrome saves these changes automatically. The next time you open the browser, it will load your new home page.

Key Takeaways

  • The home page setting in Chrome controls what appears when you start the browser, separate from what appears when you click a home button on the toolbar.
  • You set the startup page through Settings > On startup > Open a specific page or set of pages.
  • You enable and configure the home button through Settings > Appearance > Show home button.
  • You can set multiple pages to open at startup by clicking Add a new page more than once.
  • Chrome remembers your home page choice across sessions without requiring you to save manually.

The difference between startup pages and the home button

Chrome has two separate home page features, and they do different things. The startup page is what loads automatically when you open Chrome itself. The home button is an optional toolbar button you can click at any time to jump to a page you've chosen.

Many people use the same address for both — often Google, their email, or a news site. But you don't have to. You could set Chrome to open to your email when you start the browser, but keep your home button pointed at a search engine. Or you could turn off the home button entirely and only use the startup page setting.

How to set multiple pages to open at startup

If you want Chrome to open several tabs at once when you start it, use the same Settings > On startup path. After you select Open a specific page or set of pages, click Add a new page once for each address you want to load. Chrome will open all of them in separate tabs.

This is useful if you check the same sites every morning — you can have your email, calendar, and news site all ready at once. To remove a page from the startup list, click the three dots next to its address and select Remove.

Restoring Chrome's default home page

If you want to go back to Chrome's original setup, open Settings and go to On startup. Select Open the New Tab page instead of Open a specific page or set of pages. This returns you to Chrome's default blank tab with shortcuts to your most-visited sites.

If you enabled the home button and want to remove it, go to Settings > Appearance and toggle Show home button off. The button will disappear from your toolbar.

What to do if your home page keeps changing

Sometimes unwanted software or browser extensions change your home page without permission. If you notice your home page has changed to something you didn't set, check your extensions first. Click the three dots, go to More tools, then Extensions. Look for anything unfamiliar and click the trash icon to remove it.

Then return to Settings > On startup and confirm your home page is still set correctly. If it has changed again, your computer may have malware. Run a full antivirus scan and consider resetting Chrome to its default settings through Settings > Reset settings > Restore settings to their original defaults.

Using a custom search engine as your home page

You can set any search engine as your home page — not just Google. When you enter an address in the On startup field, Chrome doesn't care whether it's a search site, a news outlet, or any other web page. Type the full address (including https://) and Chrome will load it.

If you use a privacy-focused search engine like DuckDuckGo or Ecosia, you can set either of those as your home page. The same goes for specialized search tools like Google Scholar or Wikipedia. As long as the site has a web address, you can make it your startup page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I set a different home page on different devices?

Yes. Each device running Chrome has its own Settings. If you sign into the same Google account on multiple devices, Chrome can sync your settings across them — but you can also keep them separate. Go to Settings > Sync and turn off Sync everything to choose which settings to sync and which to keep local to each device.

What if I want no home page at all?

Go to Settings > On startup and select Continue where you left off. Chrome will then open to whatever tabs you had open the last time you closed it, rather than loading a fixed home page. You can also turn off the home button by toggling it off in Settings > Appearance.

Does changing my home page affect my search engine?

No. Your home page and your default search engine are separate settings. You can set Google as your home page but use DuckDuckGo for searches, or vice versa. Change your search engine through Settings > Search engine.

Will my home page setting stay if I clear my browsing data?

Yes. Clearing browsing data removes your history, cookies, and cached files, but it does not touch your Chrome settings. Your home page will remain unchanged after you clear data.